精

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

精 (radical 119 米+8, 14 strokes, cangjie input 火木手一月 (FDQMB), four-corner 9592₇, composition ⿰米青)

1. spirit, essence
2. semen
3. sandman

References

• KangXi: page 910, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 26997
• Dae Jaweon: page 1336, character 8
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 5, page 3150, character 11
• Unihan data for U+7CBE

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Cantonese

Hanzi

精 (Jyutping zing1, Yale jing1)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

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Japanese

Kanji

精

(grade 5 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. essence
2. refined
3. spirit
4. semen
5. ghost
6. fairy
7. energy
8. vitality
9. excellence
10. purity
11. skill

Readings

• Goon: しょう (shō), (historical) しゃう (shau)
• Kan’on: せい (sei)
• Kun: しら.ぐ (精ぐ, shira.gu), しら.げる (精げる, shira.geru), しらげ (shirage), くわ.しい (精しい, kuwashii), (rare) こころ (kokoro)
• Nanori: きよ (kiyo)

Etymology 1

From Middle Chinese (/tsjeŋ/). Compare modern Mandarin 精 (jīng).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• IPA^(key): [se̞ː]

Adjectival noun

精 (-na inflection, hiragana せい, romaji sei)

1. detailed, conscientious
2. pure, refined

Inflection

Inflection of "精な"

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	精だろ	せいだろ	sei daro
Continuative (連用形)	精で	せいで	sei de
Terminal (終止形)	精だ	せいだ	sei da
Attributive (連体形)	精な	せいな	sei na
Hypothetical (仮定形)	精なら	せいなら	sei nara
Imperative (命令形)	精であれ	せいであれ	sei de are
Key constructions
Informal negative	精ではない 精じゃない	せいではない せいじゃない	sei de wa nai sei ja nai
Informal past	精だった	せいだった	sei datta
Informal negative past	精ではなかった 精じゃなかった	せいではなかった せいじゃなかった	sei de wa nakatta sei ja nakatta
Formal	精です	せいです	sei desu
Formal negative	精ではありません 精じゃありません	せいではありません せいじゃありません	sei de wa arimasen sei ja arimasen
Formal past	精でした	せいでした	sei deshita
Formal negative past	精ではありませんでした 精じゃありませんでした	せいではありませんでした せいじゃありませんでした	sei de wa arimasen deshita sei ja arimasen deshita
Conjunctive	精で	せいで	sei de
Conditional	精なら（ば）	せいなら（ば）	sei nara(ba)
Provisional	精だったら	せいだったら	sei dattara
Volitional	精だろう	せいだろう	sei darō
Adverbial	精に	せいに	sei ni
Degree	精さ	せいさ	seisa

Noun

精 (hiragana せい, romaji sei)

1. polishing, refining
2. care, conscientiousness
3. something polished or refined, particularly polished white rice
4. vim and vigor, energy in doing things
5. life force, vitality, the energy of living
6. one's emotions, mind, or soul
7. the soul or spirit of a thing, particularly when appearing on its own; a fairy, a sprite
8. semen

Synonyms

• (polishing): 研磨 (けんま) (kenma)
• (refining): 精製 (せいせい) (seisei)
• (polished rice): 精米 (せいまい) (seimai); 白米 (はくまい) (hakumai)
• (care): 念入 (ねんい)り (nen'iri)
• (vim): 元気 (げんき) (genki)
• (vigor): 精力 (せいりょく) (seiryoku)
• (emotions): 心 (こころ) (kokoro)
• (mind): 精神 (せいしん) (seishin)
• (soul): 魂 (たましい) (tamashī)
• (spirit): 精霊 (せいれい) (seirei)
• (sprite): 妖精 (ようせい) (yōsei)
• (semen): 精液 (せいえき) (seieki)

Etymology 2

Noun stem of verb 精げる (shirageru, “to polish, to refine”), itself derived from 白 (shira, “white”, form used in compounds, usually shiro on its own) + ぐ (gu, verbalizing suffix), originally just meaning to whiten something.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [ɕiɺ̠a̠ɡe̞], [ɕiɺ̠a̠ŋe̞]

Noun

精 (hiragana しらげ, romaji shirage)

1. rice polishing, rice milling
2. polished or milled rice
3. excellence

Synonyms

• (rice polishing): 米磨 (こめとぎ) (kometogi)
• (polished rice): 精米 (せいまい) (seimai); 白米 (はくまい) (hakumai)
• (excellence): 優秀 (ゆうしょう) (yūshō)

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Korean

Hanja

精 (jeong) (hangeul 정, revised jeong, McCune-Reischauer chŏng, Yale ceng)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

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Mandarin

Hanzi

精 (Pinyin jīng (jing1), Wade-Giles ching¹)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

Compounds

• 精采 (jīngcǎi)
• 精子 (jīngzǐ)
• 酒精 (jiǔjīng)
• 洗发精 (xǐfàjīng)

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Middle Chinese

Han character

精 (*tziɛng)

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Vietnamese

Han character

精 (tinh, tênh)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.